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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28243026">Dance around the issue (Now dance with me)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redbull_gave_me_wings/pseuds/Redbull_gave_me_wings'>Redbull_gave_me_wings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5+1 Things, F/M, One Shot, Pre-Slash, Pre-Time Skip, Some pining, but actually 3+1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:54:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,383</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28243026</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redbull_gave_me_wings/pseuds/Redbull_gave_me_wings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p> <em>"Nami, you'll always be my friend!"</em> </p>
<p>Those words changed everything for Nami. But later, she'd wonder:<br/>
Did Luffy...<em>friendzone</em> her?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Monkey D. Luffy/Nami</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dance around the issue (Now dance with me)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey there! Despite the title, there's like no dancing in this short fic but the title has grown on me so... Also there might be some mistakes, I didn't do a thorough read-through but it shouldn't be anything too glaring. Enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nami knew pirates.</p>
<p>Or at least, she believed she did, until she met Luffy.</p>
<p>Nami would never have guessed that when she met that idiotic pirate in that small village that he would’ve ended up meaning so much to her. However, in retrospect, the signs were always there. Luffy was just always so goddamn earnest, even right from the start in his fight with Buggy the Clown.</p>
<p>From Syrup Village to the Baratie, Luffy just kept on surprising her. All the same, when the time came to leave, she left. She had her fun but Cocoyashi Village, and all her people, needed her. So she betrayed them with a paper-thin smile.</p>
<p>But then, the unthinkable happened. They came after her. These pirates were something different but she couldn’t get distracted. She had a mission so she chased them away with ice-cold eyes and indifference.</p>
<p>However, in the face of Luffy’s determination to have her as the Merry’s navigator, like it was fact and no other possibility would ever be entertained, she could feel herself crumbling inside until eventually she snapped.</p>
<p>She still rubbed her shoulder from time to time when she got lost in the memories. Her shoulder where swirling blue lines hid the scars of a frenzied self-harm. Who knows how far she would’ve gone had Luffy not stepped in.</p>
<p> <em>“Luffy, help me.”</em> </p>
<p>Mountains of goosebumps broke out over her skin when she recalled that moment. The moment she realized that she didn’t need to bear the burden alone any longer. And he didn’t need to hear any other words from her before he rushed into danger for her sake. And later, he would yell:</p>
<p> <em>“Nami, you’ll always be my friend.”</em> </p>
<p>Those words echoed in her ribcage that day. Her heart fluttered and her breath got caught in her throat. Emotion overwhelmed her and the floodgates opened.</p>
<p>So. That was how she got to her current predicament. How to make someone as dense as Luffy realize her feelings?</p>
<p>1.</p>
<p>Luffy was a different kind of pirate, sure, but he was still a man - of this, Nami was sure. And all men had one thing on his mind. In her room on the Merry, Nami dressed in her tightest bathing suit which showed off all her assets. She brushed her fingers through her hair before leaving the room.</p>
<p>She knew she looked irresistible.</p>
<p>She casually made her way onto the deck. Zoro was busy with training, Sanji was nowhere in sight while Luffy and Usopp were playing some weird game. Good, she didn't dress up for nothing. She would just stay in within Luffy's line of sight when he looked up.</p>
<p>Nami delicately stretched out on their only sun lounger with a book in hand. Time passed and clouds had moved. Zoro was still going at it. Sanji had moved up to the crow's nest after dropping off a few treats. Now, Luffy and Usopp were singing a song (terribly out of tune).  And yet, he hadn't even spared her a single glance.</p>
<p>"Hey, Usopp, can you come here for a second?" Nami called out. As planned, Luffy looked over as well but his gaze didn't linger for very long.</p>
<p>"Hurry back, Usopp. We're not done yet."</p>
<p>Nami ground her teeth together.</p>
<p>"Yeah, this approach isn't working out so well for ya," Usopp whispered when he was close enough not to be overheard.</p>
<p>"Not a word." Nami's glare was lethal before she took a deep breath to calm herself and pretended to ask him something about the book before shooing him away.</p>
<p>Once Usopp was gone, she spent some time contemplating why that hadn't worked. Luffy was different from other pirates, so really, it made sense that he'd be different from other men. Appealing to his base instincts wasn't the way to go, Nami realized. Back to the drawing board.</p>
<p>2.</p>
<p>Another opportunity arose a few days later. It was another boisterous day on the Merry. The stillness of the salty air was disrupted by Sanji's yelling.</p>
<p>"Get out of my kitchen!" A bang and a crack followed the exclamation.</p>
<p>Nami poked her head outside of her chart-drawing room and spied Luffy rubbing both his chest and the back of his head, which he presumably knocked against the wooden railing.</p>
<p>“Hey, Luffy!” she called out.</p>
<p>“Yeah?” His dark eyes moved towards her.</p>
<p>“Stop bothering Sanji and come help me for a second.” Nami knew this was a risk. Luffy wasn’t exactly known for his patience, or being able to sit still but perhaps spending quality time together would help him get a clue.</p>
<p>“What’s the matter?” he asked as he looked around the room.</p>
<p>“I need you to help me with these charts.” Luffy looked over at the table that Nami was pointing to. “I need to keep up to date with mapping out all these islands and it would be a great help to me if you could hang these charts up.”</p>
<p>“Why do they need to be hung?” Now, he was scratching the tan skin of his chest. Nami's eyes tracked the movement for a moment before flicking up to his dark-coffee eyes once more.</p>
<p>“Because the ink is wet. So, help me, please?” Nami put her hands together as if in prayer and smiled her biggest smile. Luffy returned the grin and wasted no time in putting the charts up.</p>
<p>It continued like that for a bit, with Luffy hanging up freshly inked paper and taking down dried charts and stacking them on one side, but as time ticked on, he grew restless waiting for more charts. He would inspect her instruments, tap his feet, pick his nose, or even all three at once. The incessant fidgeting eventually got to her and Nami sighed.</p>
<p>“Just go.”</p>
<p>He sped out the room in a flash.</p><h6>Interlude:</h6>
<p>A week ago, Nami’s plan of action seemed foolproof - a destined success. But now, seeds of doubt were being sown in her head. How much of this was Luffy’s infamous obliviousness and how much was plain and simple disinterest?</p>
<p>She used Luffy’s declaration that day that he defeated Arlong as a comfort. She clearly meant something to him. How couldn’t she?</p>
<p>He said that they would always be friends so then - a chilling thought occurred to her just then. Did Luffy...<em>friendzone</em> her?</p>
<p>She shook her head to herself. It couldn’t possibly be true, or could it?</p>
<p>She would need to test it herself then. But how? It only took a few more seconds of pondering before she arrived at the answer. And thankfully, the weather on the East Blue was still sunny as could be.</p>
<p>“Hey, Luffy, can I ask a favour?” she asked when she was out on the deck.</p>
<p>“No more charts, please,” he whined from where he and Usopp were sat hunched over some contraption or other. Nami didn't care enough to ask.</p>
<p>Nami rolled her eyes. “Yeah, lesson learned. But it’s hot and you know, I don’t want my skin to burn.” She fanned her face with her hand. “There isn’t much shade on the Merry, really, so can I please...borrow your hat.”</p>
<p>Everything stilled for a short while and she begun to doubt herself. What if Luffy just told her to sit inside if she wanted to avoid the sunshine? Her breath was stuck in her chest as she waited for Luffy’s answer.</p>
<p>His eyes crinkled with the size of his smile. “Sure thing. Just don’t lose it.”</p>
<p>He handed his straw hat over to her and returned to fooling around with Usopp. The straw was scratchy in her hands but comforting all the same. Luffy cared.</p>
<p>3.</p>
<p>With her confirmation that romance wasn’t off the table, Nami began scheming once again. This time, instead of focusing on her interests, she wanted to do something that Luffy enjoyed. That was sure to catch his attention, even if only for a few minutes.</p>
<p>In her charting room, she sat with a list in front of her titled <em>What does Luffy like?</em> So far she had: one piece, his friends, adventures, his hat (done) and food.</p>
<p>Not much to work with, but she was nothing if not resourceful.</p>
<p>That evening in the galley, she asked Sanji for a larger serving than she would normally. Granted, she wasn't planning on finishing it all in the first place. She had a figure to maintain.</p>
<p>After some time had passed during dinner, she slid her plate (of mostly meat) over to Luffy and said, "I'm sorry, Sanji, but I just can't eat this much food. Here, Luffy, you've always got space for food."</p>
<p>Luffy looked at the plate, then to Nami and back to the plate again. He was clearly turning thoughts over in his head. Nami was confused all the while. She was sure he would immediately scarf it all down like a pig.</p>
<p>"Nah, it's fine, Nami. You should eat. Sanji obviously thinks that much food is nu - hmm...nutritional? Yeah, that's it! Nutritional for ya."</p>
<p>Everybody, even Zoro, turned to stare. Luffy...turning down food? In the stunned silence, Luffy stretched his arm over to Zoro's plate and helped himself to some extra grub. Usopp cackled at Zoro's misfortune.</p>
<p>"Hey! Take any more from my plate, captain or not, I'll carve you a new one!" Zoro yelled.</p>
<p>"I can take some of that off your hands if it's too much," Sanji offered but Nami shook her head.</p>
<p>Instead, resigned to her failure, she dug in. If she couldn't feed Luffy, then she'd show him that her stomach could at least almost keep up with his.</p><h6>Interlude:</h6>
<p>It was the following day, just after a hearty lunch and Luffy was currently out on the figurehead having a rare quiet moment while looking out at the open ocean. One by one, the rest of the crew found themselves lingering in the galley.</p>
<p>“Nami, Nami, Nami.” Usopp shook his head patronizingly. “How much longer are you going to do this?”</p>
<p>“Until he notices.” She sighed heavily. That the guys noticed before Luffy did came to the surprise of absolutely nobody.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what else to do. I’ve tried being super sexy, I’ve tried inviting him to do things that I like. Hell, I’ve even tried doing what he likes. I’m <em>never</em> eating that much again!” Nami counted the list off on her fingers with a frown.</p>
<p>“A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.” Usopp snickered as he pretended to nod solemnly.</p>
<p>“Shut up, long nose! Nami’s perfect as she is,” Sanji said from the counter.</p>
<p>“You’re making this more complicated than it is. Stop pussyfooting around the issue and just tell him how you feel,” Zoro added before taking a swig from his bottle of booze.</p>
<p>Nami glared at him from across the table. “Oh, and <em>you’re</em> the romance expert all of a sudden? I’ve never seen you with a single person so don’t lecture me.”</p>
<p>“I hate to say it, but I agree with the mosshead, Nami. Our captain’s as dumb as a sack of potatoes. You’ll have better luck just being straightforward with him.” Sanji placed a decorated fruity drink in front of her before giving a less colourful version to Usopp.</p>
<p>“...I don’t know.” She bit her lip and fiddled with the straw in her drink.</p>
<p>Zoro raised a brow pointedly. “Yeah, you do. Just tell him already or stop whining.”</p>
<p>“I’m not <em>whining</em>,” Nami replied indignantly. “Usopp started this conversation.”</p>
<p>“Me?” Usopp shrieked before calming. “Oh yeah, I did.”</p>
<p>“Nami, you can do this. There’s nobody Luffy trusts more with his ship. You’re obviously important to the idiot. He just needs a bit of a push in the right direction," Sanji said.</p>
<p>“What’s the worst that could happen? He’s not gonna chase you off the ship after fighting so hard to bring you back. Above all else, you two are friends first,” Usopp pointed out.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s true.” Nami couldn't argue with that logic but she was still doubtful. It could all go terribly wrong and then things would be awkward.</p>
<p>She looked up at the guys and they all gave her looks of encouragement in their own unique way. Sanji smiled at her while Usopp nodded resolutely with a thumbs up.</p>
<p>Looking to Zoro, he asked gruffly, "What are you waiting for?"</p>
<p>They believed in her.</p>
<p>She gathered her courage and stood up abruptly.</p>
<p>“You know what? I’m the best navigator, in fact I’m a <em>pirate</em>. And I’m cute. I’ve got this. I’m gonna go over to him right now and tell him.”</p>
<p>+ 1.</p>
<p>Outside the galley, Nami took a second to look Luffy over. Seated where he was, he was framed on all sides by the blue of the ocean or the blue of the sky. The figurehead was his seat, and although it was risky, it suited him. She didn't want to disturb him and his thoughts but she had questions.</p>
<p>Nami's confident strides slowed down the closer she got to the figurehead upon which Luffy was perched. She stopped a few metres away but Luffy must've heard her approach because he turned to face her.</p>
<p>"Hey, Nami."</p>
<p>"Luffy," she began and, while approaching, she had every intention of building up to it all very sweetly and telling him how much he meant to her. Instead, what she said was, "I don't understand you, like, at all. I've been trying for the past week to get you to understand that I like you with no success. I don't get it! Do you just...not like me or something?"</p>
<p>Luffy looked dumbfounded. "Huh?"</p>
<p>Nami facepalmed. Her hesitation and embarrassment gave way to frustration very quickly. "I like you, you idiot. And I've <em>tried</em> very hard to show you that, but you haven't done anything about it. So, now it all falls on me. I'll make it simple. Do you like me or not?"</p>
<p>Luffy laughed merrily and Nami took half a step back in doubt. Was this it? But then he responded, with a face-splitting grin, “Well duh. Why do you think I helped you with your charts, or let you eat all that meat? You know you aren't very smart, Nami.”</p>
<p>Nami couldn't help herself. She laughed. Before long, Luffy joined her. The wind brushed through their hair, and they kept smiling.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed the fic. Thanks for reading! I probably could've done a bit more with this but yeah. Please leave kudos or a comment if you're so inclined. Happy holidays if that's your sort of thing.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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